My question is will you be allowed to deal with this person if the rules at other said board state that you cannot discusss certain issues outside of that board? I think it would be a lot more work for you all in the long run and may end up leaving a bitter taste in a lot of people's mouths if there is needless board hopping going on.

I guess my other thought is that you all moderate and admin here, this is where the focus should be and not elsewhere. I think it would be unfair to put that workload and responsibility on people who already have a lot on their plates.

Well, if this stuff really does happen can't the admin. just deal with it as it comes? Like don't actively investigate it but if it become painfully obvious that it is happening then they can put a stop to it?
How would/do they know it is happening though?

And for those questioning... yes it DOES happen.. or at least used to among a certain group of WAHMs. Whether it still does... I have no idea as I try not to pay attention anymore to that kind of tacky drama

It does NOT happen there anymore. And let me clear something up. when it DID happen, it was someone posting to say that there was a thread that talked about a product that they did carry and if someone who had used their product could reply if they wanted. it was never a case of "my sales are low, please spam for me".

I know it still happens in chat. it happens...OH WELL. I think it is done in such a way that nobody notices so WHO CARES. It cannot be policed without there being a bunch of tattle tales. Maybe people should be smarter and not brag about it afterwards. (duh people!)

I think MDC is fine the way it is. It would be nice if some of the rules werent so darn strict, but please for the love of diapers- dont make them any more strict than they are. yuck!

And let me clear something up. when it DID happen, it was someone posting to say that there was a thread that talked about a product that they did carry and if someone who had used their product could reply if they wanted. it was never a case of "my sales are low, please spam for me".

I guess my other thought is that you all moderate and admin here, this is where the focus should be and not elsewhere. I think it would be unfair to put that workload and responsibility on people who already have a lot on their plates.

I agree with this. Also, the user agreement for MDC forbids "Posting to invite members to other boards for debate purposes or posting about discussions at other boards. This is to maintain and respect the integrity of our own and other communities."

This sentiment applies equally well to this issue, IMO. Using information brought to you by tattletales does not maintain nor respect the integrity of this community. Politely informing said tattletales that you are not interested in what is said on other boards or in chat does.

I don't see how it can be fairly enforced. Some will get away with it and that won't be fair either. Heck, I've made "virtual" friends with many of the mommas that I buy diapers from. If I want to rave about them because they're great diapers, I see nothing wrong with it.

Furthermore, I find myself raving about fuzzi bunz all the time. One could suspiciously think that I'm affiliated with MOE but I have absolutely no affiliation with them other than being a satisfied customer.

Having read the entire thread I like Tiffany think the whole point has been missed. Maybe Cynthia can clarify, but it seems as though everytime this question comes up everyone gets upset because they think that they can't RAVE about a product or if a question is asked answer that question and mention your favorite product etc.
From what I read in Cynthia's post it is about a friend, usually a wahm, posting for another wahm not necessarily because they like the product or have tried the product but because they are friends.
For example: I am im'ing with a friend and we are talking about auctions. I say I have a diaper on auction and the price is low I'm so bummed, can you spam it at MDC and get the hyena's to go look at it
There is a big difference betweem the example and someone asking about a particular diaper/cover and me posting my experiance, or me receiving a new diaper/cover in the mail and loving it and raving about it all over the boards.
I don't think, and I could be wrong, but I don't think it is the day to day raves and so and so is having a sale, or so and so is stocking that is the question here.
It is the blatant, will you go to MDC and spam such and such for me.
I personally pay for advertising at MDC, to show the numbers, just for MDC alone I pay roughly $625 a year for banner, front page, and signature advertising. This does not include the over $2000 every other month for the magazine.
If I could tell my friend that sales were low, could you go to MDC and spam my product pretty please and she did, I sure as heck would not be investing my money into something that was not worth while since I could get it essentially for free.
This is all just my opinion of course. I love seeing the raves that everyone shares. I love watching the hyena's growl over announced stockings. It is just those wahm-wahm SPAMS, not raves, but covert spams, that I believe are the issue being discussed.
As far as what to do about them, who knows and I would hate to be in the position of having to look at this.

I'm a relatively new member. The whole reason I started posting here, was because a WAHM on another board posted a link, because she was suprised and delighted to see a praise thread about her here. I'd never heard of it. I thought it was pretty cool, so I joined. I guess that "spam" brought a new visitor to the site.

First off, I appreciate "sales at X" or "I just got X and they rock" threads. It's informative. If I, as a member, had the feeling that this was really a site about paid advertising, I'd go on to another forum. I'm not paying to advertise here - why should I feel muzzled when I offer an honest opinion -good or bad. Because you know the logical flipside is to ban attacks on advertiser's diapers, too.

I do know quite a lot of other WAHMs from other boards. I like some of their products, and I don't like some of them. Is there a halo effect? Probably. Is that really a big issue? If I posted a "X diapers are great" post, and nobody agreed - the thread would die very rapidly.

I'm sure there's potential for some seller to create a fake ID and praise themselves, but that's really hard to detect. If you've got good proof of it happening, you can deal with that situation on an individual level.

Just in from a very needed vacation and took the last 30 minutes to read through this thread *whew* <insert wiping brow smilie here>

I guess I'll try to respond to posts as I saw them:

Quote:

Originally Posted by chemigogo

I appreciate that this board is basically spam free. I have rarely seen a case where it was true and blatant spamming. I would be beyond angry if a link to a non-advertising WAHM was edited; really angry. I think you all are making more of this than is necessary, really. It just does not happen often enough to warrant such grave concern, IMHO.

I would also be 'beyond angry' if a link to a non-advertising WAHM was edited if only for the purpose you are suggesting. Thankfully that isn't how the boards are run and not at all what the OP was addressing. This thread is specifically speaking about those members that are ‘asked’ and that have been reported to us as having been ‘asked’ and now are following through in spamming. This has occured either as a trade (two WAHMs reinforcing/spamming for the other) or for product (a member advertises for the WAHM, they get free product or a discount).

You say that we are making more of this than is necessary, but that is likely because you are not moderating these forums and do not realize how many posts are edited/deleted/removed for direct/outright/in your face spamming. And please don't think me alarmist or snarky - just addressing your post, in general. I know when I moderated there were posts of this nature hourly. Seriously - it is a ton of work. This is why it is being brought to the board. We are not just trying to pick on everyone/WAHMs/members. We are trying to troubleshoot a problem and like to bring it to the community in order to get y'all's input.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nada

Yikes, I've done this before... now I feel bad about it even though they were genuine raves about the product. I usually include pictures of ds wearing the diapers being raved about. I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not but I guess it's sort of an attempt to prove that I'm being honest...

Heck I HAVE DONE THIS! – excitement for a new diaper/soaker/cover … whatever. I did this just last week. Heck, I’m showing off Kenny’s bum right now on the Diapering Frontpage in a soaker I adore. I believe this is par for the course in a Diapering Forum, but of course we want these in reviews too. However, if you were to almost always ONLY post for this WAHM or were receiving free gifts from this WAHM for posting pictures of your babe, then it would become an issue. KWIM?

Quote:

Originally Posted by lifetapestry

That said, I find it distasteful for the administration of a board to be concerning itself with who is friends with who, and expending effort trying to discern people's true motives in posting. No matter who has sent you what kind of secret information, there is no way that you can truly know why someone posts a rave or stocking information or other possible "spam". Any attempts to try to sniff out true spam are likely to lead to false accusations, hurt feelings, and general feelings of alienation from not only those involved, but those who hear about it on the grapevine.

I also feel uncomfortable that administrators of a board would encourage other members to "rat" on people who admit or claim they were "spamming" by accepting emails or PMs with screenshots or posts from other boards or the like. This seems more like juvenile than adult professional behavior to me, and reminds me of junior high when some loser kid would tell some popular kid, "psst . . . Susie said this about you . . . . " And I don't even want to know about the people who feel compelled to "rat" on other people-- as the "kids" say, they obviously need to get a life.

Karla, right … we do not ask for, send out spies or otherwise try to sniff-out this type of spam. We have received information from members – sometimes it is from several different members regarding the same member and we are trying to discern what to do about it. There are many times when we have a ‘feeling’ of repetitive spamming, but don’t address it b/c how does one address that? Obviously the member will deny it even in the face of their many posts.

Please know that we do not truly feel it is our concern what happens outside of MDC. Heck, we have our hands full here as it is in our daily grind. That said ... there have been times when a 'bombshell' is dropped in our laps and determining WHAT to do with it has been a most difficult situation. Cynthia and I discuss these things at length - finally, she brought it to you guys as a way for us to iron out your opinion with what we should do with outside information.

Bottom line, regarding spamming/advertising ... I believe you are right. I do not believe that spamming is half the exposure and/or weight as paid advertising in Signatures and/or in the banners, BUT when it is repetitive and when it is drawn to our attention, we are still called to address it. And most specifically – when paying advertisers are concerned b/c a competitor is spammed regularly and they feel they have 'proof' to show it … well … that is when we have to consider whether to address it or not – or whether there is grounds to address it. The opinion here has been pretty strong to address it, but how can we address it without utilizing what has been 'given' to us? It is nearly impossible b/c again it is just a recognized pattern of she said/she said ... kwim???

Altogether, much of what you feel is what we feel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aherne

Oh.. and in reply to the "spam board" we do have one. Its called the daily diaper. Nobody reads it

Okay, at first this made me laugh, but I did check and actually those get a bit of exposure if you check post counts (just much less than a forum). I think what is being requested is an open Spam forum – like at AW. Is there a desire to change The Daily Diaper to be a spam forum for those with signatures? We have repeatedly been told by those that visit both sites that it is not desired here ... is that the same sentiment?

Quote:

Originally Posted by pageta

I'm probably really going out on a limb to say this, but sometimes I think that the diapering board should not be the "MDC Diapering Board" but rather the "WAHM Diapering Board" since all administrative decisions revolve around how the board can best benefit those who choose to advertise here. If you're on the diapering board, you'd better discuss WAHM-made diapers. We use diapers I have made, but in the process of making them, I've tried many diapers. So the diapers I recommend are based on my experience with the one I have used. But I can only speak in terms of those WAHM diapers we have tried, not the ones we actually use. Thus I always have to think outside the box and recommend products that I've found which are similar to the ones I've designed in order to help people. I can't say that I've made diapers even with pattern X that work well for us - I have to refer to them as though I bought them from a WAHM. Otherwise I might be "promoting myself" which I am not, and in implying that I bought them from someone else, I'm promoting businesses that sell those diapers. Granted, most moms are not going to make their own diapers, but many WAHMs do custom orders, so if you asked for x layers of hemp, you could probably get it.

Simply put, I think this board is a little too concerned with protecting its sources of revenue, with this whole discussion as a great case in point. Trying to read people's minds and determine whether or not they're spamming for someone they know is simply way too controlling, IMO. Let people talk freely. I know that advertising provides revenue that makes this board possible, but if you are too controlling about what is said and what isn't, the board ceases to be a pleasant place to visit, and thus devalues the advertising done here since less people are coming to the boards. And if you have too much advertising, that gets annoying too. Personally, I click on banners all the time. But I never click on signatures or on ads on that page before you get to the diapering board. Quite frankly, I find that page before you get to the diapering board far more annoying that I would find a WAHM saying "I designed and sell diaper X that might work for you because it has X, X, and X." Again, yes, money talks, but if you start to annoy people with your advertising and become too protective of those who advertise by making strict rules about what can and cannot be said, people will quit visiting your site because it just ain't fun anymore.

Wow. Okay ... well, first I do believe that mass manufactured diapers are discussed regularly here - and by the WAHMs that both sell and use them. Am I wrong in saying that? Has it changed? I can think of several off the top of my head - Bumkins, Bummis, Fuzzi Bunz, Aristocrats, ... many others. They are not advertisers here ... the diapers are discussed here. We are not trying to shut down talk of any kind - we are trying to cut down on spam. We are not asking members to not list their favorite diapers - we do limit WAHMs and self-promotion, but only because at one time it was a huge issue and we were losing both membership and advertising.

Money talks - hmmmm ....not if it does not follow the guidelines on this forum. Paid Advertisers and non-Advertising WAHMs are treated alike in the thread posts. Signatures are the only venue where there is a difference. If it is otherwise, someone please point me. We have even had WAHMs threaten to remove their advertising b/c we have called them out on threads and requested they quit spamming. We do not turn a blind eye to the advertiser. I'm a tad confused by that insinuation, but certainly willing to review it with you ... can you point me to posts or situations where that was true?

If you are confused up to this point with the OP's intent, please read this:We do not ourselves go searching. Are you kidding? We can’t even finish what we need to do here daily … no time for sleuthing other boards. We do get a constant influx of reports/etc... from WAHMs and non-WAHMs alike of this sort of thing and have been having difficulty deciding how exactly to deal with this extra information, But FYI we do not spy on other boards, nor have spies on other boards.

We are not calling it spam when you talk about a product you love and adore.

Someone recommending a diaper they like is not spam. If you came to this board because someone gave the link to you site out of sincere desire to share you with others here – that is not spam … that is simply a good review/ a rave … allowable. And something we'd love to see posted in Diapering Reviews as well to grow that resource.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chellemarie

I don't know how it can truly be SPAM if I'm simply raving about something that is working for me - regardless of my affiliation with the business owner.

Your definition of Spam matches ours … this is not SPAM (what you described above). We aren’t trying to be iron-fisted mommas. Please read over the guidelines and read the OP and recognize what is being asked/said. Sometimes I think that when we read these threads we get lost in the other members' interpretation of the OP and somehow the true meaning of the thread gets lost because of one misaligned interpretation/understanding. So, if we can just address the OP and disregard insinuations that are not aligned, it would help us to figure this out for you guys so it isn't an issue that arises every 3 months or so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2much2luv

Well, if this stuff really does happen can't the admin. just deal with it as it comes? Like don't actively investigate it but if it become painfully obvious that it is happening then they can put a stop to it?
How would/do they know it is happening though?

This is EXACTLY what the OP is asking. This is exactly what we have been doing. This is the purpose of this thread. We are trying to ascertain whether or not the community feels it is appropriate to utilize outside information given to us (not sought out) to 'call' members on outright spamming.

Thank you Karla for addressing this specifically - we appreciate your input. And others - thank you for your input regarding this matter.

If you need clarity, please feel free to ask and I will try the best I can to clarify. And thank you for being open enough to discuss this with us.

BTW: We are not trying to assign any more rules to this forum - if anything we would like to have less to consider/worry over.

Oh and please forgive me for any repetition in my rather long-winded post above. As I tried to address each post that I felt might also be addressing 'broader' posts (as some of those posts were repeated by multiple members along the way), there was likely a slew of run-on sentences, incorrect grammar, spelling errors and the like on my part. :ignore

Having read the entire thread I like Tiffany think the whole point has been missed. Maybe Cynthia can clarify, but it seems as though everytime this question comes up everyone gets upset because they think that they can't RAVE about a product or if a question is asked answer that question and mention your favorite product etc.

I think everyone will not be so willing to rave or make recommendations on the "fear" of being thought to be doing that. So easier not to say anthing that be accused of promting a friend. I am certainly weary now of saying what my favorites are, because I know many of the WAHMs from other forums & here.

I think everyone will not be so willing to rave or make recommendations on the "fear" of being thought to be doing that. So easier not to say anthing that be accused of promting a friend. I am certainly weary now of saying what my favorites are, because I know many of the WAHMs from other forums & here.

Okay call me weird because you know I am anyway but I have "NO FEAR", if I buy something and like it, to hell with everyone who thinks I am posting for a friend. I say proove it, and when you find out you are wrong. EAT CROW!!! I am not missing any point! I pay for advertising and I do not feel threatened by the small portion of wahms who ask friends to post for them, that is if they actually ask. Going around acsusing people of this is only going to make MDC a taboo site where nobody wants to be.

As a previous retail store owner I posted to rave about my favorite diapers I put on Meredith and then, Kenny. Without reserve. Heck, I made up haikus about them to make it more fun and to better express my insane enjoyment of silly soft things like kiwi dolls from the fuz mama herself to diapers that literally kicked-butt - girlfactory! :LOL I imagine if Kathleen had up and opened back up for her custom spots before I collected my deluge of diapering products, I'd have a couple of hers too. And boy do I rave when I'm in love ...

That said ... are there any more solutions directly tied to the OP's post below?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cynthia Mosher

As all of you surely know we try to keep the boards as free of spam as possible. By spam I mean promotional posts for the benefit of one's personal business or for friends.

The first one is pretty easy for us to recognize and deal with. It's the second one that's more complicated.

We have dicussed this in the past a bit - how to handle situations where we see a member repeatedly recommending the same business or businesses. Now in many cases this happens sincerely, as so many of you pointed out when we talked about this before. A member will be so pleased with a product and the service of the WAHM that her recommendation will be made frequently in response to questions about product or business recommendations. That is acceptable and to be expected and is a big part of what makes Diapering such a valuable and benefical and fun forum for everyone.

However, it becomes more of a concern when we know that a member is friends with the WAHM(s) and we receive reports of this member admitting, outside MDC in posts elsewhere, that she is spamming here for her friends.

We are really tied about how to deal with this. We do not like judging someone's behavior based on what is reported said or done elsewhere. Yet if we are presented with evidence (say, a screen shot of the statement made elsewhere) what are we to do?

its sad. i dont know what can/ should be done, but i do know it happens, a lot. i too think the point is often missed in these discussions- this isnt about raving about your favorite diaper or cover.

i know it is done, and done maliciously, without any respect for the boards or for the members that are potential customers. people respond to recommendations because there is a certain amount of trust here. if people on this board tell me about something good i tend to believe them. it is disrespectful to take advantage of that. perhaps the individuals doing this dont realize that- they think they are helping a friend or themselves. but really, we are all part of this community, and it is a shame people would take advantage of fellow members.

yes, you dont have to trust what is posted here. but i think we all like that we *can*.

when i check my email and read the subject lines... : 'get thin eating ice cream!' 'how to win the woman of your dreams' and worse, i dont even open the spam. how awful would it be if i lost trust in my diapering community and would pass over thread after thread because my trust had been broken? melodramatic? maybe, but really i think there is no escaping that this is an issue that effects everyone- customers, wahms, mods, everyone.

i dont know how to solve this (quite) ongoing problem. if someone presents evidence in complaint, how can mdc not respond? how is it any different than any other rules violation? i strongly disagree with the idea, posted above, that it is unfair that only some of the offenders get caught and others slip by. you do what you can when you can.

in real life, crimes go unnoticed and crimes get solved. it isnt unfair to those caught that others go free- it is unfair to society that people do bad things at all. it is unfair to the members of this board that people are disrespectful. all we can do is try to stop what we can. just because we may never be able to stop it all doesnt me we shouldnt try in the first place.

tabitha

Hi, I'm Tabitha. I'm a homeschooling mother of five: ds (13) dd (11) ds (9) ds (7) and dd (2) Find me at To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

yes, you dont have to trust what is posted here. but i think we all like that we *can*.

it is unfair to the members of this board that people are disrespectful. all we can do is try to stop what we can. just because we may never be able to stop it all doesnt me we shouldnt try in the first place.

tabitha

I agree we should do what we can to make everyone feel comfortable and respected but how does one huge forum do that? I do not know. If I did I would tell em how......kwim? But if there is not concrete evidence of spaming how do you prove it? Is it right to take screen shots and have people fink each other out? Is it right?

What you might find disrespectful may not be to another. Some people let things roll off them and do not worry about details. Others worry about all that stuff. IS either wrong? I think not.

As far as not trying, hell I think trying is what this whole post is about. Everyone on the planet wants a peaceful union where we can all feel safe and secure. But in nature nothing is secure, nothing is truely safe either. We can only try and hope for the best.

I really do not think that spamming can be controlled by have fink rats placed strategically on other diapering boards. Even if what those spammers are doing is wrong, two wrongs do not make it right.

I am all for trying to work out a plan but some things are not going to solve this but only inflate it.

For the record ... there are no 'rat finks' placed on other boards. :LOL Okay, that is just stinkin' funny to me. We have information that is randomnly and sometimes anonymously sent to us, but we don't have spies, finks, narks, trolls or otherwise scoping other boards.

I am a member at other boards ... and no, I'm not a rat fink. : There are times I see/read things I wish I didn't/hadn't, but I don't bring it back to MDC.

Anyway ... just wanted that said ... that it isn't with purposeful intent that we receive various bits and pieces of information.

For the record ... there are no 'rat finks' placed on other boards. :LOL Okay, that is just stinkin' funny to me. We have information that is randomnly and sometimes anonymously sent to us, but we don't have spies, finks, narks, trolls or otherwise scoping other boards.

I am a member at other boards ... and no, I'm not a rat fink. : There are times I see/read things I wish I didn't/hadn't, but I don't bring it back to MDC.

Anyway ... just wanted that said ... that it isn't with purposeful intent that we receive various bits and pieces of information.

I never said MDC itself had ratfinks or narks or whatever anywhere. I said that there is something wrong with taking a snap shot of a post from another board and sending it into MDC anonymously. That is not going to help the situation but only inflate the problems in my opinion.

I am not accusing you of being a ratfink either. I really do not think anyone had malicious intent, it is possible they were not aware of the impact of such an act. I see all kinds of stuff over the net and I would never dream of sending anything to another site to create problems. It is not solving anything.

Oh Kathleen, I knew what you meant, but this has been referred to before on this thread and another from not so long ago and so I just wanted to clarify.

I also wanted to clarify my own position as I work very hard on other boards to just be 'Heather' and it is very hard as obviously there can be some reserve to posting/etc... when I show up. Which kind of bites actually, but probably is good ... I don't have to really 'see' and hear ALL the dirt. :LOL

Oh Kathleen, I knew what you meant, but this has been referred to before on this thread and another from not so long ago and so I just wanted to clarify.

I also wanted to clarify my own position as I work very hard on other boards to just be 'Heather' and it is very hard as obviously there can be some reserve to posting/etc... when I show up. Which kind of bites actually, but probably is good ... I don't have to really 'see' and hear ALL the dirt. :LOL

Well thank goodness. I was going to say I inserted foot in mouth again. I am with you, I am oblivious to most of the dirt out there because it just rolls off me like water.

I can tell you that when I was wrongfully accused of "spamming for my wahm friends" , I was very hurt and upset. I don't understand why there are a few members here who spend SO much time worrying about whether a person is saying that they like a certain diaper because the wahm is their friend or because they really do. In my opinion, that time could be better spent.

If ther is a problem, which I haven't seen, I guess it would need to be addressed. At the same time, people need to realize that wahms are friends with many other wahms, and if they try their stuff and like them, they should enjoy the same freedom as non-wahms and talk about it.

Wrongfully accusing wahms of spamming for their friends causes those wahms to re-think where they will spend their advertising dollars... and they share that with their friends.

Hmm I check the diapering board here daily and I haven't seen any suspiciously spammy posts... so I am not sure what posts you're speaking of.

Perhaps I am not as observant. I'd think you'd need strong evidence to actually accuse someone of spamming, "a screen shot for instance". Because if you are wrong (you, a mod of MDC) you can be sure you will loose advertisers and their dollars, like Teri said above.

If there is legit proof that they are doing this they should be delt with the same way you would deal with a WAHM who is spamming her business on purpose, totally know she shouldn't be. By legit I mean make sure there is real proof that it is the same person and not just someone telling their aunt's mother's sister's ex dog's old best friend. Like someone sending a link to a moderater where the post(s) can be read over and discussed. I don't feel a screen shot is sufficent only because I have seen them forged, very nicely forged at that. Though why someone would purposly forge them for this reason I have no clue, but I am sure it can/has happened.

Someone really enjoying the WAHMs product and sharing= GOOD
Someone promoting a friends business when they know they shouldn't then spouting off about it on another site = BAD

Just my opinion... move along, nothing to see here...

I would say a screen shot and the link--since posts can be edited as well.

My thoughts . . . and you can all be mad, I don't care. Yeah, I post when some WAHM's stock or run sales and yeah, some of those WAHM's are my friends but I post these threads because I OWN their products . . . in several cases . . . lots of their products and when you buy that much stuff from a WAHM you are bound to become friendsly. So you are saying I cannot post about a product I love from a WAHM that I happen to be friends with because that will be looked at as spam? Personally, I think that is BS.

As far as being able to pull a post because so and so from this other message board or chat said that a person was spamming for a friend . . . that seems a little too much like Big Brother watching me for my taste. Maybe a little too much middle school tattle tailing as well.

My thoughts . . . and you can all be mad, I don't care. Yeah, I post when some WAHM's stock or run sales and yeah, some of those WAHM's are my friends but I post these threads because I OWN their products . . . in several cases . . . lots of their products and when you buy that much stuff from a WAHM you are bound to become friendsly. So you are saying I cannot post about a product I love from a WAHM that I happen to be friends with because that will be looked at as spam? Personally, I think that is BS.

I gotta stop here before I

Jaime--maybe it is (and I haven't read this whole thread because it is sooo long so I might be off base-and I am sure I will be corrected if I am wrong) but they are spamming friends WAHM business that might not be offering quality work to get them more business...so more people are getting the raw end of the deal????

so, was this ever resolved? did anyone ever come up with a good solution?

to be perfectly honest i don't really care if people spam on mdc and then go tell others about it. i don't care if someone asks someone else to spam for them. i have had people ask me if they could go spam my products on mdc, and i have asked them not to. it embarrasses me to see a rave review about something i have done. therefore, if i know it might happen i ask that it doesn't, if i don't know about it, that's another story. i also don't advertise, and i have no trouble keeping busy.

so, hell, if that WAHM needs the spam to keep her biz open and there is someone that is willing to do it for her, i just ignore it all. as for people that have that much time on their hands to be turning other people in for spamming, well, i have one statement for you, "get off the computer and go spend time with your children!!!!"

heather, i think that turning the daily diaper into a spam forum for wahms with advertising is a FAB idea!!!!!!!!! i'm prolly in the minority, but i enjoy threads with some spam in them LOL. :LOL

I also have lots of WAHM friends, the WAHM community is smaller than you think, you are bound to be friends with those you run into every day. Yes, I use friends products (and wahms I dont know as well). If I like it, I say so, I dont care if the wahm is a friend or not. I think most people would not recommend pure crap (regardless of the wahm/friend status) because it would come back to bite in the butt later. Just my 2 cents.

If someone has a good product/service, they will succeed. If someone sells crap, they wont, regardless of who spams for them. There are also diaperpin reviews. If something looks like crap and their reveiws are crap (even if someone "spams" them), then you will probably get crap. LOL

Jess, Kathleen, if this board were to be open to spam would you continue to advertise here? That's not to say that we would permit spam because another big reason for refusing to allow it is for the benefit of the general, non-WAHM community that wants sincere input and not promotional posts in response to their questions.

No, like I said, I hate spam. And I think ya'll do a great job of policing it. But when you get into trying to decipher whether or not someone is spamming for someone, that just makes my eyes roll back into my head. I know how busy you & other moderators are & I dunno... it just seems so... what is the word? BLEHHHH to try to track down passive spammers.